The increasing popularity of tablets is clearly the dominant factor in the decline of PC sales, but I have to wonder if the release of Win8 didn't accelerate that decline.
Whether the Win8 critics are right or wrong or of old age or of a certain mindset doesn't change the fact that Win8 is not a big winner with desktop PC & notebook customers.

Thinking the Intel model requires high-ASP is a flawed assumption. It is supported by high margins. This is where the process line-size lead that Intel has allows them to compete at lower ASPs, because their cost is significantly lower than their competition's.
When they announced the S-1200 microserver processor last fall, they went to great pains to emphasize that they actually make MORE money on a rack full of the smaller, lower-ASP chips.

People who say that Win8 should not have removed "Start" button and should not have offered touch screen are probably of old age, or with mindset and fingers stuck at certain mode. How sad! These are the people who refuses to grow.

I wonder if you are among many of whom predicted the decline of Intel during the rise of AMD on 2005ish. Just don't accuse Intel of monopoly when Samsung and Nvidia get left behind by Intel this time around.

In my opinion, MSFT killed the PC market with Vista, then recovered with Win7, now killed it again with Win8. I was going to buy a laptop last xmas season, but could not find a new one without Win8. I finally found an old stock computer with Win7. There should be a non-touch screen alternative setup put into Win8. Call me obstructionist, but I find it a waste of time, unnecessarily having to learn something new that doesn't add to my productivity. Microsoft - you screwed up!

This comment is made as if only one semiconductor business model exist. Intel model different from Qalcomm, different from AMD, different from TSMC. The strong argument is that Intel's unique business model is not effective in the post-PC mobile area.

You do not seem to understand the semiconductor business model. The ASP means very little. It is revenue per wafer and profit per wafer what counts. Intel being ahead of everyone in process technology by at least one generation is well positioned to thrive in the coming years. Their Atom based SOC-s are more then a match to ARM based SOC-s and their advantage will grow in the coming years.

I agree. If I recall correctly, Otellini about a year ago was saying that $699 would be the mainstream price point. Now that they are talking $599 and even $499 for some models, I think this could have much more widespread appeal.